The New World
by Belandra
Summary: Twelve X5s escaped Manticore and are out in the real world now. But are they just twelve? Searching for her siblings, one of them lands right in the middle of.... I'm not telling you yet. Please, read and review.
1. All Hell Breaks Loose

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from Dark Angel. But I do own Zoe. 

I'm not a native English speaker, so please excuse mistakes in language. I'm really bad, when it comes to grammar, but I try to do my best, of course.

Chapter 1: All hell breaks loose 

Hi, my name is...

I have to stop right here, because nobody named me, when I was born. They just gave me a number. A real long number it is too. And to make sure they would not forget my number, they gave me this nice little tattoo in my neck in form of a barcode.

But my 'family' gave me a name. It is Zoe. And this is my story.

It starts in a secret military building called Manticore. I was born there, along with a few dozen other children. But we weren't considered children. We were soldiers. Not normal ones, but the prototypes of a military experiment. We were a genetically high tuned something, trained to become the best killers the United States ever had. But of course we didn't know about being an experiment. We all lived that life, because we didn't know, that it could be otherwise. We didn't know about the world that was outside of Manticore. And this world didn't know about us either.

It was in February 2009, when something happened that changed our life. I was nine years old then. My unit (the boys and girls in there were the only family I've known, so I called them brothers and sisters) and I just had witnessed how Lydecker shot one of us, just because she was disobedient. That's when it all started.

It wasn't my idea to run away, but when Zack suggested it, I was in right for it. Eva's death affected all of us, but with me it was something different. Eva had been, what you would call my identical twin. I considered the others in our unit to be my siblings, too, but Eva was something like a mirror for me. We were not the closest friends, but we had a connection nobody else had. We were very alike in personality, but not entirely, we didn't always behave like good soldiers. It was the outward similarity and the inward differences between the two of us, that made all of us realize, that we were individuals, not just exchangeable soldiers. So when Eva died, it was a great shock to me. Not only did I have to find out, that we all were dispensable to Lydecker, but I knew that it was just a lucky chance, that it was Eva lying motionless on the cold floor and not me.

Lydecker had killed my sister. At this moment I hated him more than at any other time before.

So we made arrangements for the escape.

I don't remember much of what happened, but I know it was night. I ran through the snow, with my feet bare, but I didn't notice the cold. Not on my feet nor on my body, that was covered only in one of the thin military nightgowns. Get out of here, as fast as you can, was all I could think or feel.

I knew every inch of the terrain and knew exactly where I had to run. The lights of the choppers overhead and the snowmobiles behind me bathed the forest in light so bright, that it almost seemed like daytime. The incredible roar they made, urged me on to run faster. I heard myself breathing regularly. Right next to me was Tinga, running mechanically, not out of breath either and not showing the slightest sign of exhaustion. On Zack's order our unit had split up into groups of two. Tinga was my partner. We had left the others behind us long ago. But we could hear other snowmobiles, not coming our direction and choppers moving farther away. They were probably chasing the others. Tinga and I had seen how Lydecker's people tracked down two of our brothers that had been a little behind us. I didn't want to get caught and brought back to that place I had grown up in. Since today, Manticore didn't seem to be a home anymore.

Finally we reached the high security fence with the barbed wire and jumped over it easily. I realized that we had succeeded in leaving the grounds of Manticore. For the first time in my life. I shot a quick glance back at the fence and I promised myself to never see that fence from the other side again.

We were still kids, but our bodies were better trained than the ones of any grown up.

The snowmobile behind us was still catching up with every minute. But we had almost reached the river. I could already see the dam in front of us. Freedom, whatever that word meant, wasn't far away anymore.

I only remember running, trying to hide from the lights and running, speeding up even more and still running farther. Running as far away from Manticore and those snowmobiles, that were constantly catching up, as possible. Run for your life, was the only thought I had in my mind.

Tinga and I reached the dam. When we crossed it, my feet touched the stone. It felt rough compared to the soft snow, but there was no time thinking about it. We kept close to the side of the dam to make it harder for them to see and target us. Then there was a loud sound, like the gunshot that had killed Eva.

And then there was the pain in my breast, as everything turned black.

Please, pretty please: read and review. 


	2. The Pursuit

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from Dark Angel. 

Author's note: There is a slight change in chapter one. Zoe is nine years old now, instead of eleven.

Thanks for reviewing, everybody. Of course I will continue, as long as I get some feedback. It took me some time, to decide, where I'm taking this story, but now I found a way, after throwing several ideas into the waste. It's fun for me to write, and hopefully interesting enough for you to keep reading.

Chapter 2: The Pursuit 

Gillette, Wyoming

Manticore Headquarters

February 12, 2009

Two hours after the breakout

Colonel Donald Lydecker supervised the pursuit of the X5 units, that tried a breakout just a few hours ago. He was in a very bad mood. Two hours had passed and they still hadn't recaptured all of the X5s. Lydecker knew he would pay dearly, if only one of them could get away. He knew, his bosses would give him hell. But he also knew, that some of the kids would get away. And once they were far away from Manticore it would get harder to find them. So trouble was inevitable. Thinking about that, only helped to increase his cranky mood. He had to do something, go back to the action.

Two of his men just came back and gave their report.

"You already tracked X5 599 down, but then you allowed him to escape again? Can't you take care of an eleven year old in handcuffs?"

The men looked down miserably, the face of one was swollen and his left arm was dangling on the side limply. The other one had a broken nose and he seemed to limp. Lydecker knew, he was unfair. 599, the kids had called him Zack, Lydecker remembered, wasn't a normal eleven year old boy. He was the leader of small his unit of soldiers. He was one of the best. And Lydecker couldn't blame the men to get overwhelmed by an athlete with Zack's reflexes. That boy was somebody who would rather die, than give up his mission. Lydecker smiled without humor. He had spent the past nine years to train those kids and he had done a very good job on them. Maybe he had done a too good job. He dismissed the men and looked down at his list. 24 of his kids had tried to escape. Lydecker's men had captured only seven of them. Two were dead. The others were still out there. That was a very bad rate.

While Lydecker gave orders in his walkie-talkie, one of the snowmobiles returned and stopped in front of him. Two children lay on the platform in the back. Both of them seemed unconscious and bled freely. Lydecker didn't like to see his kids in such a state. He looked down on their faces. They were still children, but their complexion was hard. Lydecker knew the numbers of all of his kids by heart, even the names they had given each other. Somehow they were _his children. And now two of them were lying in front of him, their faces pale and lifeless. Zen seemed to be dead. How could he let that happen? He knew it was his fault. He had allowed them to develop too much emotions and comradeship. Lydecker turned away and called some nurses to carry them away. He waited for the report of the driver._

"We had a hard time following them. They got over the fence. You gave order to use hard ammunition, once they get there, Sir," said the man, who stood to attention. "One of them is dead, the other one was still alive, but he is injured very badly, Sir."

Lydecker nodded and sent him away. On his list, he crossed out a number and checked another one. Thirteen to go, he counted, shaking his head. He would get in very much trouble.

The place in front of the Manticore building looked like a battlefield. Several cars stood there, along with some snowmobiles. People, mostly soldiers were going in and out of the house. On one side men were preparing the bodies of the two killed X5 to be moved to the morgue. They would be used as organ donators for their injured comrades. Behind Lydecker was a black military truck, like the ones used in the pursuit right now. On the hood was an unfolded map. Red and green lines, that usually didn't belong there, were drawn all over it.

Lydecker went to look at it, for what seemed to be the hundredths time, to check if he had really blocked up all the streets, bridges and other ways he could think of, that would help those kids get away. He had. Their only chance was to go through the woods, where Lydecker's men would have a hard time following them.

But even those kids had their limits. At some point the cold would get to them, even a X5 got exhausted. And they had weak spots. Lydecker knew, that this was probably the last chance to see any of the other children again.

An hour later, the last snowmobiles returned. They were of no use anymore. Lydecker had send out his men to patrol the nearby town and check all private houses in the woods for the kids. If they had gotten farther away already, they were out of his reach for now, and Lydecker would have to track them down one by one. And he would do so.

Another team returned to give a report.

"Sir, we followed two of the kids in the snowmobile. They were over the fence already and headed towards the river. We shot one, but the other got over the dam and we had to follow on feet. We couldn't catch up with her, Sir."

The man looked very exhausted from running.

"Where is the body of the one you got?"

"We couldn't find the body on our way back, Sir. But I shot her right in the heart, she is dead."

"If there is no body, she is still alive, Mr. Jensen."

"Sir she fell down the waterfall. And she was shot in the heart. Nobody can survive that."

"Don't underestimate those kids. I want to have her body."

"It is almost impossible to find it. There are the waterworks, right beneath the waterfall. The body must have gotten smashed into a thousand pieces."

Lydecker took a deep breath. He needed the body, but the man was right. It was impossible to find it, once it had gotten into the waterworks. Even if the girl still had been alive, she couldn't have made it out of the river before reaching them, if she was really shot into the breast.

"You are sure you shot her into the heart, before she fell? You didn't miss?" asked Lydecker, just to remove even the faintest doubt. He couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.

"I am sure, Sir."

"All right then, do you know who it was?"

"The other one called her Zoey."

Lydecker thought a long time, about what he just heard, until he made his decision. He took his list again and going over every single number on it, he finally crossed out X5 652 slowly.

"That leaves twelve," he told the man.

"And that is twelve too many," he added as an afterthought.

_That's it for today. What do you think? Please review and tell me. Praises, flames, everything is welcome._


	3. Reborn

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from Dark Angel. Chapter 3: Reborn? 

The next few days I spent in a dreamlike state. I didn't know what had happened or where I was. I had never been there before. But then everything came back slowly.

I saw myself dying. I saw myself like through the eyes of somebody else, as if I was a ghost who witnessed everything from the outside, as if it wasn't really me.

There I was, wearing green drill clothes, the blond hair shaven almost to the skin. I walked down a hallway of Manticore next to Zack. Everything was so gray there. Our unit was right behind us. The only sound that could be heard, was the echo of our firm steps. Then I realized where we were going: down into the basement, where the bad people were. I stopped, I didn't want to go there. Now I noticed that Lydecker was right in front of me. He turned to see what caused the holdup. He saw me, gave me the order to continue. That was, when Ben collapsed next to me. He had one of these attacks, some of us had since early childhood. He was shacking all over. I bent down to him and tried to calm him down. I took him in my arms. Lydecker ordered to leave him alone and continue. But I didn't. Ben, he needed help. Lydecker repeated his order. Noo. He said my number, repeated the order over again. I put Ben down gently and stood up to yell at him. Ben needed help. I advanced on Lydecker, but I didn't get far. Lydecker pulled out his gun. I saw him aiming at me. I was so surprised that I didn't move.

_The shot rang in my ears. Then I saw myself wince, when the bullet hit me. And I saw myself falling to the ground in slow motion, when everything went black._

_I was running. I was myself now and I could feel the snow under my feet and the wind on my skin. I was running through the woods, but they were bathed in this weird bright light, that blurred everything. That wasn't the sun. But what was it then? Everything jumped in and out of the shadows. I noticed the noise of a snowmobile ringing in my ears, almost deafening me. Now it was mixed with the roar of a waterfall._

_A shot cut straight through all the noise. I could feel the bullet hit me. And I was falling again, longer and deeper than before. Somebody called my name. Was that Tinga? Or my imagination?_

_It was black again. And then I was in the hallway again, and in the woods. And images of Zack, giving orders with hand signals to us. Why was he in a nightgown out in the snow? I had not been next to him in the hallway. Something wasn't right here. I was in the woods again. The shot. Where did all this water come from?_

During those days I laid down with fever, I got pretty much convinced, that I was dead.

When it finally subsided I started to take in my surroundings for the first time. That small room definitely didn't belong to Manticore. It had too much furniture and, although the walls where gray and naked, it seemed to be more comfortable than the casernes at Manticore. I was lying on a bed, with soft white sheets. I had never seen such a white in my life. Everything at Manticore seemed to be in a dull gray or brown. There was a tray of food and juice next to the bed. I suddenly noticed, how really thirsty I was and drank some of the juice. Wow that tasted good. Being dead didn't seem to be so bad. Except for that awful pain in my breast. Do dead people feel pain? I felt the bandages under my gown. They were right under my heart. The same spot where the bullet hit me in the dream. And suddenly I remembered everything that had happened. Eva's death. The breakout. I was on the run from Manticore. I was not dead. Another short glance around the room convinced me, that Lydecker had not gotten me yet. But I couldn't be very far from Manticore either. I had been almost dead, and not in a condition to travel very far. How had I gotten out of the river and into this place anyway?

My thoughts were interrupted by a door opening and a man entering the room. He seemed to be around forty years old and had brown hair in this short military haircut, I knew so well from Manticore.  Did he want to take me back? I tried to get out of bed in panic.

"Slowly does it. You shouldn't move too much. Your seam could burst," he said alarmed. His voice was deep and full, but didn't have the commanding tone Lydecker had. I watched the man closer. He wasn't the typical Manticore soldier. Maybe he had been a few years ago, but now he should really do something against the beginnings of a paunch he had. I relaxed a little, he didn't seem to be an immediate threat. He even smiled.

"It's nice to see that you're getting better. I started to get worried about you. You didn't want to wake up."

I didn't answer and just continued to stare at him. There were small signs of him getting nervous, but he talked on.

"Do you remember what happened? You got shot. Whoever did that only missed your heart by the quarter of an inch. I pulled you out of the river. If I hadn't seen you right away, you wouldn't have made it. Luckily the bullet went right through you, so I didn't have to pull it out and you're all fixed up now. As soon as you're better, I'll try to bring you away from here."

"Where is 'here'?" I asked, still not taking an eye of the man.

"In the basement of my house. They couldn't find you here. The room is hidden. But you're still very close to Manticore, so we'll need to take you away. You can't stay for long. It's not save. I know somebody, who could help you. I already called them."

I didn't like the thought of many people knowing, where I was. I frowned at the thought, that one of them would tip off Lydecker.

"Why do you help me? You work for them." I could see that from his clothes.

"When I joined the military, I wanted to defend my country in case of war. I never wanted to torture children. I still can't believe what they did to you kids. They actually shot at you," he said in horror and I felt, that he really didn't agree with Manticore tactics.

"What about the others. Do you know anything about them? Did they get away?" I wasn't in a condition to run away at the moment, so that was the next important question to worry about. Had anybody else made it out?

He nodded.

"Yes, the big bosses are furious at Colonel Lydecker, because twelve of you managed to escape."

Twelve, it shot through my head. But who? Zack? Tinga? They had almost gotten me. Had they managed to recapture her? Or did they shot her too. Was she...? I didn't want to end the sentence.

"Who, escaped? And what happened to the others?"

He took a list out of his pocket. I could distinguish numbers printed on the front. On the back of the paper was a shorter list of numbers, written with pencil.

"The others are back at Manticore, isolated. But not all of them. Some of them are dead."

Carefully I took the list. I started to scan the front page, because I knew the numbers on the back belonged to my killed comrades. I didn't want to look at that list, so I just read the first one.

On top of it was 599.

"Zack." My older brother, who had always taken care of me and usually managed to keep me out of trouble. He had made it, he got away.

"Tess, Zane, Max, Krit."

I continued through the list, being happy for all of my siblings who escaped, until I finally found the number of Tinga. I was relieved to see it. She was not dead. She had done the only thing right, and had not wasted time to look after me, when I had been shot. She had gotten away.

I looked over the list again. Something was missing. But what? Suddenly I noticed. My number wasn't on the list. Slowly I turned the paper, to look at the other list. It contained only four numbers. And there under the numbers of Tera, Kal and Ranec it was. 330410314652. My number.

According to this, I was dead.


End file.
